I like most cheese I haven’t always, but 7-8 years ago, I went from accepting mozzarella on pizza, burgers, lasagna and toast, to eating a range of varities fresh and cold on bread. At first I mostly ate the mild ones, but that has gradually changed as I grew accustomed to the taste.

There was once in my cheese rookie days, when I couldn’t decline without feeling rude.

My brother and I visited my uncle and his new girlfriend. We never met her and did our best to be polite. So after being offered some cheese, we said yes.

What I remember from that day, was that it was stinky and extremely strong tasting. Both my brother and I downed it with bread, but we had a hard time keeping a straight face. It was that strong.

My brother told me later how he could smell it on his fingers 2 days afterwards. Even after intense hand washing. I couldn’t but I wasn’t the one who had to touch it to cut a few slices.

I always thought the cheese was a special local version, but later I found out that it can be found in well-stocked stores. Its called “StÃ¦rk Jyde” (translates to “Strong Jutlander” – Jutland being a peninsula and part of Denmark). I bet many Danes recognize the name from the supermarkets.

A few days ago, I decided to try it again. I suspected that I’ve grown as a cheese eater and maybe it wasn’t as strong as I remembered. C and I opened it last weekend as part of our breakfast. It was stinky alright, but that goes for most older cheese. I took one bite of it on bread. It was around that time I decided that I weren’t just a wuss the first time. This cheese is exceptionally strong. It’s like ‘old’ and ‘death’ met up and made some really dirty and smelly love in your mouth. I had to spit it out in the trash bin. I still can’t grasp how I downed it the first time.

I don’t consider myself a chicken when it comes to strong cheese. I’ve eaten “Gamle Ole” (translated “Old Ole” – Ole being a common Christian name here), which is widely accepted as the strongest well-known cheese in Denmark and I liked that one. They are matured about the same amount of time (Strong Jutlander 30-35 weeks and Old Ole 40 weeks). But the “Strong Jutlander” is the worst/strongest cheese I’ve had so far. It’s a hands down winner.

So who the hell eats this stuff? Turns out at least my wife does. Amazingly enough, she says it reminds her of stinky tofu. I have to agree on that part, not that it makes any difference to me. The stinky tofu I had in China was even worse and not at all something I want to eat again.